Officers Kick Start Program

Friends On Force Use Martial Arts As Weapon For Program.

LAUDERHILL — Somehow a group of renegade fourth graders makes it into the martial arts class at the Boys and Girls Club. Director B.J. Smith soon catches on and pulls them out.

Forlornly, they sit at the back of the class, longing to kick and punch with the big kids. For now, Lauderhill Police Officers Peter Weaver and Ruben Zamora limit martial arts instruction to children in fifth grade and up every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. They use the quiet room, which grows loud with the yells that accompany a strike or block to the air.

Roger Mullings, 10, one of the fourth graders, said he was interested in martial arts so ``that you could do self-defense no matter what. If older kids come over, you can break 'em in half.''

The two officers, who have studied martial arts for years, teach a combination of karate, jujitsu, judo and tae kwon do at 5455 NW 19th Street, a short hike from the Police Department.

Weaver and Zamora wanted to work with children since they joined the Lauderhill force. But before they could embark on this project, Chief Alberto Melis wanted to bolster the department's roster.

``This has been a dream of mine,'' said Zamora, who has been with Lauderhill Police for two years. ``We have a lot of eager kids. We want to teach this as discipline and self-defense, give them somewhere to concentrate their energy.''

The officers are capping enrollment at 35. When they fill the first class, they will try to start another group. They expect to lose some students who realize they won't be the next Power Ranger or Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Eventually, police would like to expand the program to include cricket, soccer, and basketball. That means finding volunteers.

So far, ``the response has been overwhelming,'' Smith said. ``One and half years ago we lost our volunteers for karate. It was one of the best programs.''

Smith said back then she saw a huge improvement in attitudes and behavior. Kids began controlling tempers they once let control them. They felt better about themselves.

This afternoon, the children start by bowing toward the instructor. They do knuckle punches, palm strikes, kicks.

They get excited when he informs them of an upcoming contest to see who has come closest to mastering the skills. After they strike the big blue pads, they return to the end of the line, smiling and pleased with themselves.

``I like when we learn to help ourselves and get good protection,'' said Sasha Stevenson, 11. ``I think it's really great.''

The students will be getting uniforms called gis and the police department will be donating money seized in drug deals to help pay for Boys and Girls Club programs, Weaver said.

Approvingly, Smith watches Weaver work with the children.

``I see he's going to be very patient,'' she said. ``He's got a high energy level.''